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After his team\u2019s 83 \u2013 72 victory over Asseco Prokom Gdynia, David Blatt<\/B>, head coach of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv talked about the game. About the end of the first round, Blatt remarked, \u201cWe finished this round with the best record in Europe, 9 wins and 1 loss, and I think the entire system deserves praise. Blatt also discussed his two centers, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Milan Ma\u010dvan. Chuck Eidson<\/B>, who once again had an excellent evening, said, \u201cIt\u2019s always hard to come into a game that you don\u2019t really need to win, so it\u2019s very important that we won this game. Guy Pnini<\/B> noted, \u201cI\u2019m happy about this win.
\u201cEven though it didn\u2019t decide anything for us, we really wanted to win this game, and to play our basketball.
In the first half we were very good at both ends of the court \u2013 strong defense like we\u2019ve played all season, and on offense we moved the ball extremely well.
Unfortunately, in the third and fourth quarters we weren\u2019t at our best, but we did what needed to be done to get the win.
We\u2019ve run into this problem several times already this season, where we take a big, early lead and then ease up.
I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to have that problem in the Top 16.\u201d<\/FONT>
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There\u2019s no title or special prize for an achievement like that, but it proves that our team has a direction and has shown commitment and perseverance.
It proves we\u2019re a team that wants to win every game and to give its best for the fans and for the club; I\u2019m very proud of that.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cSofo had a great game tonight; he really came to work, just as he has been doing for most of the season.
This summer we promised you a big, serious player in the post, and I think we\u2019ve kept that promise.
Regarding Ma\u010dvan, I think his performance tonight in his first game, after only two practices with the team, was extraordinary.
He did some nice things, he didn\u2019t slow the rhythm of the team, and he has fit in really well into the fabric of the team.\u201d<\/FONT>
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We played hard, though we did ease up as time went on, but still we finished it as we should and didn\u2019t disrespect the other team.
I think all the guys on the team are really proud, and all of our fans should be proud of us, that we finished the first round in a competition like the Euroleague with a 9 \u2013 1 record.
It\u2019s just fantastic.
Still, we need to remember that it\u2019s just the first part of the season, and for the next round everyone is going in with a 0 \u2013 0 record.
So we need to keep playing as hard as we can, because starting tomorrow our wonderful record will be gone and we\u2019ll be starting everything from the beginning.\u201d<\/FONT>
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It\u2019s a result of our playing hard from the beginning regardless of whether it was an important game for us or not.
Starting strong has characterized us all season and carried us to great places.
We play together, and you can see that we work for one another in our game; it\u2019s fun to play like that.
Congratulations to all of my teammates on a wonderful first round, almost perfect.
Now we need to keep that momentum going in the next rounds.\u201d<\/FONT>
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